Blackmail

5 WASHINGTON, D.C.

“He’s lying,” Hardison said as he joined the president and the other three members of his staff and cabinet, still seated in the Roosevelt Room.

“We’ve already come to that conclusion,” the president replied. “The question is — why did they attack us?”

“Maybe a more specific question should be asked,” Christine said, then amplified. “Why did they attack Roosevelt?”

“Good point,” the president said. “This wasn’t a random attack against one of our ships. They wanted to take out one of our carriers.”

“Maybe not,” McVeigh joined in. “Even a couple of Shipwreck missiles wouldn’t normally knock an aircraft carrier out of commission. They got lucky, detonating ordnance staged on the Hangar Deck and hitting the aircraft carrier’s Island superstructure.”

Turning to his secretary of state, the president asked, “What’s going on in Russia that might explain their attack?”

Dawn Cabral replied, “Internally, Russia’s economy is on the brink of recession due to the world oil glut. Oil and natural gas exports provide fifty percent of the Russian government’s revenue, and the low prices are hitting them hard. The ruble has dropped to twenty-five percent of its value from only two years ago, causing disaffection within the Russian population. President Kalinin’s popularity is plummeting ahead of next year’s election, which is causing consternation within his administration. You never know what straws desperate politicians will grab at to shore up their popularity.

“Regarding external events, Russia is still upset over the addition of the Baltic countries to NATO and has taken a hardline stance against the addition of Finland. Within the Russian administration, the most commonly used phrase translates to ‘Over my dead body.’ Elsewhere, you’ve got Russia’s annexation of Crimea and their support of separatist factions in eastern Ukraine. Then there’s Russia’s involvement in Syria, with their level of commitment vacillating every few weeks.”

Dawn finished up with, “Finally, there’s the issue of Ice Station Nautilus. There are three Russian submarines on the bottom of the Barents Sea. Although Russia’s official demeanor since the incident has been conciliatory, the attack on Roosevelt could be payback.”

The president contemplated the potential reasons for Russia’s aggression, then said, “We’re not going to solve this tonight. Start working the problem. What we know is that this was Russia’s opening move. We need to figure out what their endgame is, so we can respond appropriately. Without knowing where this is headed, we’d be flailing about in the dark.”

Turning to McVeigh, he said, “Coordinate with the intelligence agencies and see what they can glean from human sources and electronic means. What kind of ability do we have regarding access to Russian classified information?”

McVeigh replied, “Most of their military and political communication protocols are secure, although we can break some of their encryptions. I’ll get with Cyber Command and see what we can hack into.”

The president nodded his agreement, then shifted his gaze to Christine as she spoke.

“One more thing, Mr. President. I’m scheduled to head to Moscow on Monday for the next round of negotiations for the follow-on to New START.”

The president leaned back in his chair, assessing the situation before replying. “Let’s go with business as usual. Give them the impression we accepted their explanation at face value. At this point, there’s no reason to derail our negotiations with Russia over a mere… accident.”

Turning his attention to the entire group, the president said, “Put a full-court press on this. Russia’s up to something, and we need to figure out what that is.”